1975 Formula One Season
The 1975 Formula One season is the 26th season of Formula 1 motor racing. The championship will be contested concurrently over an eleven race series that will commence on 12th January and end on 5th October. Jesse Masters and McLaren are the reigning Drivers' and Constructors' champions respectively. However Masters' contract was not renewed as he moved to join Tyrrell for the 1975 season. Season Report [[1975 Argentine Grand Prix|'Race 1: Argentina']] The drivers went to Argentina to start the season, and it was Stefan Van Damme in the Lotus who set the pole position with the Williams of Mick Ashcroft and McLaren of Maria Parker who started in second and third respectively. The race started with immediate action as Jorge Fernandez in the Ferrari was caught out by the slow starting Ashcroft in the Williams. Fernandez attempted to evade the Williams but that caused his Ferrari to spin and hit Nathan Meiri in the Lotus and Max Westland in the Shadow. After the first lap the race carried on without any major incidents until the last few laps of the race in which Bastian Stüber mistakenly thought the race ended when there was a lap left. The March of Erik Peters suffered a steering rack failure in the middle of the sweeping right-hander of turn 3/4. Peters went into the barriers as the lower part failed, causing the driver to succumb from the injuries. Van Damme won, followed by Ashcroft and Parker. [[1975 South African Grand Prix|'Race 2: South Africa']] Following a disappointing result in the opening round of the season, Ferrari brought several upgrades to Kyalami with the hope of being able to challenge Lotus. Their new car was noticably lighter than the car they had started the season with and they set the fastest time in practice. Gunnar Olander grabbed pole position with his upgraded Ferrari, with Stefan Van Damme and Maria Parker lining up behind. Olander and Van Damme would battle through the first corners of the race for the lead but Olander managed to just stay ahead. The start was messier behind, as Maria Parker lost control of her McLaren and collected Nathan Meiri. Both cars sustained minimal damage but dropped to the back of the field as the rest of the grid flew past. Van Damme put Olander under intense pressure as the pair pulled away at the front of the pack, with Van Damme attempting to force the Ferrari driver into a mistake. The pair would swap positions several times during the race, but Van Damme eventually managed to find a way past on the penultimate lap and kept the lead until the end of the race. Mick Ashcroft finished with another podium, just ahead of the two McLaren's, with Vadim Pshenichnikov scoring his first Formula One points and Maria Parker recovering to finish 5th. The Brabham of Gregory Gray had a massive shunt into the barrier just before the Jukskei Sweep and his car almost went airborne as it rebounded across the track. He was killed instantly by the crash. [[1975 Spanish Grand Prix|'Race 3: Spain']] Before the race, many drivers expressed concerns at the safety of the circuit and it's high speed layout. Gunnar Olander did not share these concerns unlike most of the grid. The battle between Lotus and Ferrari continued into the weekend, with Stefan Van Damme taking pole by just half a tenth over Ferrari's new driver, Mick Ashcroft. Tyrrell attended their first race this season, but 1973 champion Alex Plunkett would start at the back of the grid due to missing qualifying. Starting from the inside, Ashcroft had a better start than Van Damme and launched into the lead. There was a small incident at the first corner as Gunnar Olander was tapped from behind and fell to the back of the pack. As the race went on, Ashcroft found himself under pressure from Van Damme and the Fittipaldi driver Strip Weathers, who was taking part in only his second race. This order continued until Van Damme span at the exit of turn 6 and fell to third. Ashcroft and Weathers started the penultimate lap side by side, but Weathers locked up into turn 1 and ran wide, giving up second to Van Damme. Ashcroft was leading the race on lap 13 when he suffered a gearbox problem at the final corner, losing several seconds as well as the lead to the Lotus driver. In a sign of sportsmanship, Van Damme returned the position to Ashcroft and ultimately the Australian driver would go on to win the race. Gunnar Olander would recover from last at the end of the first lap to finish on the final step of the podium. This race also saw the death of Bastian Stuber, who hit the pit wall on lap 2. [[1975 Belgian Grand Prix|'Round 4: Belgium']] Mick Ashcroft started from pole position for the first time in his Formula One career, with Stefan Van Damme and Alex Robin Plunkett lining up behind. The Australian driver put in an impressive lap to qualify over 7 tenths ahead of Van Damme. The start of the race was initially clean, with Van Damme overtaking Ashcroft around the outside of turn one to take the lead. Ashcroft lit up his tyres at the exit of the corner and temporarily lost second to his teammate Gunnar Olander. Heading onto the back straight, Alex Plunkett lost control of his car and span across the track. Nathan Meiri was unable to react in time and slammed into the side of Plunkett's car. Although Meiri was able to continue, the side impact to Plunkett was too much and he passed away shortly after the impact. At the end of that lap, Gunnar Olander clipped a kerb at the exit of the last corner and span towards the pitlane. His car hit the pitlane wall and the Ferrari driver had to spend several minutes in the pits for repairs. He would rejoin the race, but had another huge crash at turn six as another car was returning to the track. Olander survived the impact, but broke his feet and suffered a concussion as well as other injuries to his legs. It is expected that he will return to racing in several months around the Italian GP. Jorge Fernandez crashed at the final corner as his brakes failed on lap ten. His car smashed through the catch fencing, injuring one spectator and killing another. Fernandez was unhurt. Van Damme controlled the race at the front, finishing just under ten seconds ahead of Mick Ashcroft. After just missing out on a podium in the previous round, Strip Weathers finished third. Ferrari were impressed by Weathers' speed and results and hired him on a temporary basis to replace the injured Gunnar Olander. [[1975 Dutch Grand Prix|'Round 5: Netherlands']] For the third race in a row, safety was the major talking point of the weekend. Many drivers were hesitant to race around the fast and dangerous Zandvoort Circuit, despite the addition of a new chicane before the final corner. Jorge Fernandez pulled out of the race weekend due to safety concerns. The rookie Sterling Eldridge-Moffat would surprise the entire grid by taking pole position on Saturday. Stefan Van Damme started second, with his title rival Mick Ashcroft lining up in third on the grid. Much of the media attention was focussed on the new Ferrari driver, Strip Weathers, who was given a race seat by the famous Italian team after Gunnar Olander was injured in the Belgian Grand Prix. Eldridge-Moffat would lead the pack into the first corner, with Van Damme just about staying in second ahead of Ashcroft. Behind, there was chaos as Russel Coight span off the grid and was collected by Matthijs Bowknegt's Brabham. Both cars sustained heavy damage and would be retired later into the race. Later on the first lap, Mark Habets lost control of his March car on cold tyres and hit the wall, ending his race. Many Dutch fans immediately left the circuit in disappointment. Nathan Meiri and the rookie Eder Fabre came into contact on the second lap, but both drivers were able to continue with minimal damage. Meiri was able to pass Strip Weathers on the start-finish straight but they collided at Gerlach Bocht and Meiri span, but miraculously escaped without damage again. The Lotus driver threatened to protest against Weathers but ultimately decided not to after talking to the Ferrari driver. Eldridge-Moffat continued to lead on the third lap, just ahead of Stefan Van Damme. Approaching Tunnel Oost, the Hesketh rookie hit the inside kerb which threw his car into the outside wall. Van Damme was just able to avoid collecting Eldridge-Moffat's car as it careered across the circuit. The Hesketh driver had heavy damage but was able to limp into the pitlane for repairs. Van Damme held the lead of the race until the end, with Ashcroft finishing just one second behind. Nathan Meiri picked up his first podium despite an incident-filled race. With this race, Van Damme extended his lead in the Drivers' Championship ahead of Ashcroft. Lotus maintained their lead of the Manufacturer's Championship over Ferrari by nine points. Following a check-up after the race, it was found that Strip Weathers had fractured two of his ribs in his crash with Meiri. As a precaution, he missed the French Grand Prix. [[1975 French Grand Prix|'Round 6: France']] Results and Standings Grands Prix * The Brazilian Grand Prix was due to be held as the second round of the championship but race organisers cancelled the race due to political unrest. Controversies Vadim Pshenichnikov and false identities Ahead of the Argentinian Grand Prix, the FIA discovered that Vadim Pshenichnikov had entered under a false name of Viktor Pearce and was subsequently banned from participating in the first race of the season. After some heated discussions with the FIA and the Soviet government, he was finally allowed to race under the USSR flag and resumed using his Russian name. Claims of performance enhancing drug usage After a dominant win at the opening round of the 1975 season, Van Damme came under scrutiny for his pace and many drivers, including his ex-teammate Gunnar Olander and Ferrari driver Jorge Fernandez, accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs. Van Damme has strongly denied these rumours.Category:Seasons